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birb_cromble  1mo ago (text post)   1025 thread views

Weekly Finance Thread - 2026-08-01

A weekly thread to discuss financial matters - from personal all the way up to global.

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For example I sell options. Right now, I have a notional risk of 7x-8x my taxable portfolio’s actual value.

You sir, have balls of solid rock. There is absolutely no way I could bring myself to do that.

Looking back, the fact that I invest at all has more to do with an accident of fate than anything. I grew up dirt fucking poor. I don't mean "we couldn't afford a new car" poor. I mean "we had to cut slits in my shoes and tape them up because I outgrew them and couldn't afford replacements" poor, or "had a big, filling glass of water for dinner at least once a week" poor.

My first job out of college didn't pay handsomely, but it was enough money that I could dump 13% of my paycheck into my 401(k) and still feel richer than I had ever felt in my life. Every time I get a raise, I increase my savings one way or another and keep my spending power constant.

Absent that, I'd probably be like your brother in law. The terror of being poor stays with you wherever you go. I still regularly wargame what would happen if I lost my job, and wake up at night thinking that I'm going to lose my home.

I think about my relatives who haven't been able to get out. What advice do you offer to somebody who's still working retail in his 30s and has been turned down for his last ~50 applications to better jobs? "Just invest in SPY, bro" is going to bounce off their real-life circumstances so hard that it probably does more harm than good.

What advice do you offer to somebody who's still working retail in his 30s and has been turned down for his last ~50 applications to better jobs? "Just invest in SPY, bro" is going to bounce off their real-life circumstances so hard that it probably does more harm than good.

Ask them if they like free money.

The Saver's Credit isn't quite as good as a government match on retirement contributions (being a nonrefundable tax credit), but it's still pretty dang close to "the government will give you money for investing."

Ideally, you could bring them around to opening (say) a zero-fee Fidelity IRA, making enough of a contribution for the free money, and investing in a cheap target date index fund ("it's like you get a financial advisor rebalancing your account, but for free!"). Even a little bit will help supplement social security in retirement.

If you can't talk them around to that, see if you can at least get them to open a free Roth IRA, make the minimum contribution to get the government match, and then just leave it in the MMF that Fidelity defaults to (I keep saying Fido because I'm familiar with their interface/offerings; I'm sure plenty of other brokerages are the same). Tell them they can treat it as a bank savings account (since contributions can be taken out), but the interest earned will be tax free if they leave it there (since everyone loves not paying taxes). That way they get the government refund, and at least have the retirement account open, even if they're not leaving the money in it/invested, and that's a start.

And then let the inevitable corporate barrage of emails and ads about "let us help you save for retirement, here's some money tips" start to slowly do their work.

If I'm reading this correctly, you have to itemize to get the benefit, right?

I'll be have to do some math to see if that would beat the standard deduction for them.

It looks like you can take it and the standard deduction, since it's a credit rather than an itemized deduction. Kind of like the Lifetime Learning Credit.

What advice do you offer to somebody who's still working retail in his 30s and has been turned down for his last ~50 applications

Literally, Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. I’ve read it. The advice is solid. His writing is convicting, and it will actually make you excited to save and give you hope. Dave Ramsey was sent by God to pull desperate families out of poverty. I would offer his advice with few amendments. Maybe I would update his Baby Step 1 from $1,000 to $2,000, but not if that seemed insurmountable.

I'll try to see if my library has a copy. It sucks when someone comes to me for advice and I can't offer anything.

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